We reported from Kostiantynivka, as Russia closes in on three sides: Here's what you helped us achieve this week (Patreon)

Dear Kyiv Independent community members,

Thank you for your continued support. 

This week, as U.S. President Donald Trump’s deadline for Russia to agree to a peace deal approached, we covered the fast-moving updates on what might come next. As of now, it’s looking like Trump is aiming for a trilateral meeting involving Zelensky and Putin in the coming days as he pushes for a swift resolution of the war.

We also covered U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff’s visit to Moscow to meet Putin this week — a move that Kurt Volker, former U.S. special representative for Ukraine negotiations, told the Kyiv Independent was an effort to give Putin "one last chance" before the U.S. imposes harsher measures. 

We'd like to give a warm welcome and to the 171 new members who joined this week. Thank you for your support and for your solidarity.

Here's what you helped us accomplish at the Kyiv Independent this week:

We reported from Kostiantynivka, a key city in Donetsk Oblast, as Russia closes in on three sides. Francis Farrell and Olena Zashko spent 24 hours with drone teams of Ukraine’s Liubart Brigade to report on the situation on the ground. You can also watch the video report here. 

This week, one of our most-read stories was a into how Russia is potentially returning to a Soviet-style economy. Russia is planning to cap prices on staple food items in a move that analysts warn could trigger shortages, long queues, and public discontent.

Another widely-read story was about Ukraine deploying new drones to target Russian equipment beyond the radio horizon — the distance where the earth’s curvature blocks the video signal that Ukraine’s strike drones depend on — and what it means if Ukraine is able to strike 30 kilometers into Russian territory, reaching high-value targets.

We also reported on the escalating humanitarian crisis in Kherson. The regional capital with a pre-war population of 280,000 now has less than 65,000 people remaining — and may soon be unlivable as Russia increases its drone strikes on civilian infrastructure. 

We wrote about what it’s really like to be Black in Russia. The Kremlin has long portrayed as Russia as a place free from oppression or hate crimes. Kate Tsurkan’s article explores the discrimination faced by people from African countries and the Black diaspora in Russia. 

We continued to keep a close eye on the Ukrainian government’s handling of anti-corruption reforms, including the announcement on announcing the competition for anti-smuggling director — albeit seven months late. Dominic Culverwell also covered the appointment of Ukraine’s long-awaited economic watchdog, which came after a month-long standoff and significant pressure from international partners. 

After a vote on story ideas on our members-only Discord channel, we wrote about Operation Vistula, which was the forced resettlement of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians from what is now Poland after World War II. The fallout from this historical event continues to impact Polish-Ukrainian relations today.

Finally to end on a positive note, our community recently donated a vehicle to the Ukrainian military.

One of our members Chris, emailed our community management team letting us know that he'd like to donate a Mitsubishi Shogun Sport — through our community, we found a volunteer who was able to pick up the car in England, export it, and then drive it to Kharkiv, where it was donated to a Ukrainian military unit.

We'd like to say thank you to everyone involved — especially Chris' wife Hilary, who was the owner of the vehicle. We're so proud to say that this is one more thing that the Kyiv Independent community has accomplished, and it again goes to show that working together, you do make a difference. Included below are two photos, showing Hilly the car having successfully arrived in Ukraine.

Thank you for standing by our side as we bring independent, locally sourced news about Ukraine to the world.